GLaDOS' Testing Track (Portal)

GLaDOS' testing track is the testing course featured in Portal, and partially revisited during the course of Portal 2's intro in the single-player campaign. Consisting of 19 test chambers, it was first used by Chell as part of her mandatory testing.

The first chamber of this course is located nearby the Extended Relaxation Center from which Test Subjects are deployed from and put into temporary stasis in the Relaxation Vault. The last chamber of this course however, is connected to the Incinerator Room.

Test Chamber 00
Being the first test chamber of this Testing Track, Test Chamber 00 contains both the actual test and the Relaxation Vault. Upon the Test Subject's awakening, the timer above the portal starts counting backwards from one minute. At the 40-second mark, GLaDOS makes an announcement that the test is about to start. After a brief warning (which is cut out by a strange malfunction), GLaDOS counts down the last three seconds on the timer. Upon the timer reaching zero, a portal opens leading to Test Chamber 00. Once the test subject exits the relaxation chamber, they will enter the test room, which contains an Aperture Science Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button and Storage Cube dispenser. This test is meant to teach the test subjects the relationship between Super Buttons and Weighted Storage cubes. It is also the only test chamber to not involve portals.

In Portal 2, the same chamber is revisited when Wheatley gets Chell back to the testing area. Chell returns to her relaxation vault, which is in an extremely dilapidated shape from years (possibly decades) of neglect, and the Announcer says very similar things to what GLaDOS said in Portal.

Test Chamber 01
The next test chamber is another test meant to teach test subjects how Super Buttons and Storage Cubes work, but this time the test is much more advanced. Instead of the Storage cube and Button being right next to each other like in Test Chamber 00, the two are separated by glass walls. This time, the test subject has to wait for automated portals to shoot into the 3 walled off areas, eventually getting the Storage Cube onto the button and moving on to the next Test Chamber.

When Chell returns to this testing track in a ruined state in Portal 2, there seems to have been some changes made while she was in stasis. Instead of the portals being made automatically, the test subject now decides when and where the portals are created through use of buttons. This was to prevent the sudden slowdown in gameplay while also creating a more instructive environment, avoiding a "Portal Carousel" effect, as stated by Alex Vlachos.

Test Chamber 02
Test Chamber 02 is the first "real" test, in that it is the first test in this testing track that the test subject solves by using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. However, the ASHPD the test subject receives is incomplete, as it is only able to shoot blue portals. The test involves the test subject first navigating through automated portals to obtain the ASHPD. Once it is obtained, the test subject must use it to get out of the pit that contained it.

In Portal 2, Chell encounters Wheatley here. One of the walls within the chamber has collapsed, allowing her to walk to the pedestal that formerly held the portal device, which Wheatley claimed had fallen off. Upon approaching the pedestal, the floor collapses and drops Chell into a heavily decayed and partially flooded test chamber, where the portal device can be found, surrounded by murals drawn by Doug Rattmann.

Test Chamber 03
This Test Chamber involves the Test Subject creating portals to get across two large gaps. This was meant to assure the player does not become adverted to using either color portal freely simply due to an early preference. It is also meant to introduce test subjects to the concept of hopping through portals, and how they connect like a two-way tunnel.

In Portal 2, this chamber is accessed from an observation room near the entrance instead of the elevator. The room itself has also changed somewhat, being smaller and having fewer turns to pass.

Test Chamber 04
Test Chamber 04 is another Cube and Button test. Curiously, this test chamber is almost exactly the same as Test Chamber 00, the only difference between the two being the fact that this test chamber involves the use of portals to get the Weighted Storage Cube onto the button, as it is in a pit. As Chell leaves for the next chamber, GLaDOS says she will not monitor the next test.

In Portal 2 this test chamber was merged with Test Chamber 5, with the exit of one connecting to the entrance of the other.